Antique Safes/Cary antique Safe

Hello Terry I have a Car safe serial # 190431. It has a Yale Comb lock on it and also has a safe inside it bottom left of main safe. I had it painted but only exterior. It looks great everything works, I heard from the grapevine it was an old post office safe?????

I would like to know an estimated value of it please send me the list of pics you would desire to make a estimate.
I really appreciate it. If I sell it I feel sorry for anyone whom has to move it it must be 1000lbs?

Charles

AnswerHi Charles,

Your Cary safe has a Yale M-16 lock installed, and based on the serial number it would have been manufactured around 1925, so while it is a collectible, it still has a few years before being considered and antique safe (over 100 years old).

As far as it "MIGHT" have been owned by the postal department - this has no bearing on the value of the safe. The Post office simply acquired what ever was locally available for use in their local offices. In general, they tended to abuse the heck out of them, and did very little maintenance, so hopefully this isn't true as the damaged caused could severely lower the value.

As for the weight, you are correct, it is probably in the 1000 to 1250 lbs range. However this is NOT a heavy weight safe. I've seen Cary's up to four times this size!

I would be more than happy to look at your safe for you, to determine its condition and/or values.

In order to answer specific questions, identify, evaluate or appraise your safe, I'm going to need photos. They should include full exterior and interior. Detail photos should include pictures of the dial, handles, hinges, artwork, locks, bolt work, castors, cabinetry and any special details or damage. Note: You may have to remove the back panel on the door to gain access to the lock & bolt work – I will need these pics.

If you have a particular detail that you have a question about, I will need a photo of it along with your question.

I will also need to see any documentation that you have in regards to your safe. If your safe has a unique historical perspective, you should be able to document this with letters, newspaper articles or photos, if not it is simply a story and will have no bearing on the value of your safe.

Please use as high a resolution as possible so that I can examine details of your safe. Pictures which are low resolution, out of focus, or from a distance don’t help when we try to evaluate the container. Note: with higher resolution, you may only be able to send 2-4 pictures per email, depending on the size of the file, I have a 12mb limit per email. If photos are larger than 2mb each, you may only be able to send 2 or 3 photos per email, requiring several emails.

Please don’t send me “cell phone” photos, unless they are very clear and of sufficient resolution. Also, please don’t use online, internet photo drops as most of these also don’t allow me to easily access the photos for examination. Send the pics directly to me, while this may be more work for you, it will make my job easier.

Please send all of the requested photos to: andy@securitysafeusa.com

Note: As I am in the field several days each week, covering a huge service area, I may not get back to your photos immediately, but I will respond as soon as I get an opportunity. Due to field work, emails may tend to get backed up which means I may not answer them immediately.

Our informal evaluation is at no charge, however if you feel you need a formal evaluation or appraisal for insurance, estate sales, donations for tax write offs, or to establish it as an antique, there is an administrative fee for this service.

Questioner's Rating

Rating(1-10)

Knowledgeability = 10

Clarity of Response = 10

Politeness = 10

Comment

Terry is knowledgeable, polite and a expert in communicating his profession to a layman. I am currently sending Terry a bundle of pictures so he can evaluate my safes value. Again Terry was very concise in specifics he wanted to value the safe down to the pixels in the camera photo. This is what I call customer service at its best, reading the customers needs and exceeding them.
Thank you so much Mr.Terry V. Andreason (Andy)I will be sending your requests for the pics shortly. Thank you AllExperts also.
Charles E. Russell

Expertise

Safe and Vault related Questions;
Antique Safe Repair and Restoration;
With over 44 years in the Safe & Vault industry, if I can't answer your question I know where to get the answer.
Current Project: Restoration of an Ely Norris Cannonball Safe from the early 1900's. Will answer Safe & Vault related questions concerning age, value, restoration, moving, opening & repairing, parts, operation and history.
Note: It is not my intention to teach you to open safes or to provide information which may aid in the unlawful opening of a safe. I will not give out drill points or information which I deem inappropriate.